QB Kirk Cousins leaving Vikings for 4-year deal with Falcons

After much effort, the Atlanta Falcons have resolved their franchise quarterback problem.

Kirk Cousins, a former quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, and the team reached an agreement on a four-year contract on Monday, according to McCartney, Cousins’ agent.

Cousins’ contract is approximately $180 million ($45 million per season), including a $100 million guarantee, according to a source who spoke with ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah released a statement saying, “After significant and positive dialogue with Kirk and his representatives, we were unable to reach agreement on a contract that fits the short- and long-term visions for both Kirk and the Minnesota Vikings.” “Kirk has a particular position in Vikings history, and we are grateful for his six seasons of leadership and service to the organization and the community of Minneapolis-St. Paul. We send our warmest wishes to him, Julie, his wife, and their kids. When it came to the quarterback issue, we always had layers of contingencies in place before entering free agency. We are making progress toward our goals so that we may keep assembling a team that is capable of winning a title.”

With the addition of Cousins, the offense now has multiple players selected in the first round. The three offensive linemen selected by the Falcons in the first round are two-time Pro Bowler Chris Lindstrom at right guard, left tackle Jake Matthews, and right tackle Kaleb McGary. As a skill position player, he can also work alongside Atlanta’s final three first-round selections: tight end Kyle Pitts, receiver Drake London, and running back Bijan Robinson.

The signing of Cousins by Atlanta should complete the franchise’s multi-year search for a replacement for Matt Ryan, the 2016 NFL MVP, whom the organization traded to the Indianapolis Colts prior to the 2022 season following a botched attempt to acquire Deshaun Watson.

The Falcons then selected Desmond Ridder in the third round of the 2022 draft and signed Marcus Mariota to start at quarterback. Having started the last four games of 2022 and coming into 2023 as the team’s top quarterback, Ridder replaced Mariota as the starting quarterback after 13 games as the starting quarterback.

The Falcons finally fired former head coach Arthur Smith and installed Raheem Morris in his place after benching Ridder twice in 2023 in favor of backup Taylor Heinicke. Neither player performed well. At the press conference that followed Smith’s dismissal, team owner Arthur Blank referred to the quarterback play from the previous campaign as “deficient,” promising to fix the team’s problems at the position.

Last season, Ridder finished with 2,836 yards, 12 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and 12 fumbles after completing 64.2% of his passes. Heinicke gained 890 yards, five touchdowns, and four interceptions on 54.4% of his throws completed.

Heinicke and Ridder are both under contract through the 2024 season, but if Heinicke is released, the Falcons can save $6.96 million against the cap and won’t have to pay him a roster bonus of $1.32 million if he leaves Atlanta on March 17.

A highly durable quarterback in the NFL, Cousins, 35, was enjoying one of his greatest seasons in 2023 when he tore his right Achilles tendon in Week 8 at Lambeau Field. He finished second in passing yards (2,331) and tied for the NFL lead in passing touchdowns (18) at the time.

He had started 136 out of 138 games since moving up to QB1 with the Washington Commanders in 2015 before the injury. Two of those missed starts happened in 2019 while the Vikings were resting starters for the postseason, and the other one happened in 2021 following a positive COVID-19 test.

Despite starting for three seasons as Washington’s full-time starter, Cousins was never able to come to an agreement on a long-term contract. In order to position himself to hit the free agent market in 2018 at the age of 30, he spent his final two seasons with the organization using the franchise tag. This is an uncommon occurrence for a top-tier quarterback who is in the prime of his career and is available to any NFL team.

The Vikings jumped fast in the hopes that backup quarterback Case Keenum might lead the team to a Super Bowl berth, having just finished one year after leading them to the 2017 NFC Championship Game. In order to provide him with temporary salary cap relief, they signed him to extensions in 2020 and 2022 after they granted his demand for a fully guaranteed $84 million three-year contract.

But during that period, the Vikings’ quest for the Super Bowl did not grow any closer. They went 1-2 in their two playoff games and had a 50-37-1 regular-season record with one NFC North championship.

Consequently, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah chose not to renew the guaranteed part of Cousins’ contract beyond the 2024 campaign during talks in the spring of 2023. Rather, the parties reached a compromise that guaranteed Cousins a route to free agency in 2024 without the Vikings using the franchise tag on him and allowing the team to reduce his salary cap figure.

The four-time Pro Bowl selection’s 39,471 throwing yards over 12 NFL seasons place him fifth among current quarterbacks and 24th all-time. Cousins has 110 interceptions to go along with his 270 touchdowns, which is 20th all-time. In addition, he has 958 yards and 19 more touchdowns from rushes.